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Emil Osterkamp (1853-1914)
}} Emil E.H. Osterkamp, the first child of German immigrants Hicke Osterkamp and the former Caroline Nicolai, was born on October 29, 1853 in St. Louis. As a teenager, Emil learned the skilled trade of working with leather, which enabled him to take positions as a tanner (converting raw animal hides into leather), currier (stretching the leather) and whitener (lightening the leather). Emil would work at those occupations from age 17 until shortly before his death. However, work was hard to come by for recent immigrants and their families, and Emil continued to live at home until he married. In the 1880 census, he reported that he had been unemployed for at least a year. On September 13, 1882, Emil married 26-year-old St. Louis resident Christina Hanewinkel, the daughter of Joannes Heinrich Hanewinkel (1810-1897) and Josephina Kurten Hanewinkel (1819-1891), who were German immigrants from Westphalia. In the first five years of their marriage, the couple moved to 2314 Menard Street, 1918 S. 3rd Street, 1125 Soulard Street, and finally, 1121 Soulard Street, which they initially shared with Hicke and Emil's brother Robert. Although Emil's father was Lutheran, Emil and Christina attended a Catholic church. Emil and Christina had four children: Charles (1884), Arthur (1887), Walter (1890) and Ella (1893). The first three survived to adulthood, but Ella died on September 12, 1894, four months before her second birthday. In about 1892, the family bought a house at 2261A Indiana Avenue, where they would stay for the rest of Emil's life. In order to pay the mortgage, they at times took on boarders. Emil was out of work toward the end of his life, and tried to make ends meet as a music teacher while his three sons, who still lived at home, largely supported the family. He died of chronic interstitial nephritis at age 60 on June 6, 1914, after what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said was a lingering illness. The funeral, three days later, went from the family home to Sts. Peter & Paul Cemetery, 7030 Gravois Avenue, where he was buried. Christina moved to 3810A Wyoming Street in the early 1920s, where she lived with Arthur. She died on October 18, 1927 of a valvular heart lesion, and was buried next to Emil on October 21, 1927. Grandchildren *Roy Osterkamp (1912-2002) *Nanon Masconi (Osterkamp) (c1921-1962) *Walter H. Osterkamp, Jr. (1924-1993) Sources www.Familysearch.org search result for Emil Osterkamp. www.Familysearch.org search result for Christina Hanewinkel Osterkamp. U.S. Census Report, 1860 (entries for Hicke Osterkamp and family). U.S. Census Report, 1870 (entries for Hicke Osterkamp and family). St. Louis City Directory, 1864-72, 1874-75, 1877-82 & 1887-88 (entries for Hicke Osterkamp). St. Louis City Directory, 1871, 1874-75, 1877-79, 1881-83, 1885 & 1887-91, 1893-1914 (entries for Emil Osterkamp). U.S. Census Report, 1880 (June) (entries for Hicke Osterkamp and family). U.S. Census Report, 1880 (Nov.) (entries for Hicke Osterkamp and family). City of St. Louis birth registry for portion of 1887 (entry for Arthur Osterkamp). City of St. Louis birth registry for portion of 1893 (entry for Ella Osterkamp). Burial certificate for Ella Osterkamp. U.S. Census Report, 1900 (entries for Emil Osterkamp and family). U.S. Census Report, 1910 (entries for Emil Osterkamp and family). Death certificate for Emil Osterkamp. Obituary for Emil Osterkamp, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 7, 1914, p. 1B. St. Louis City Directory, 1915-17, 1919, 1921-23, 1925 (entries for Christina Osterkamp). U.S. Census Report, 1920 (entries for Christina Osterkamp and family). Death certificate for Christina Osterkamp. Obituary for Christina Osterkamp, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 18, 1927, p. 32. The Tanner, http://www.motherbedford.com/Tanner.htm.